BCBS of Tenn. gives cost info before treatment

Climbing on the national transparency bandwagon, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has kicked off a program for enrollees that will let them know ahead of time what they'll owe for physician visits. The program affects only the roughly 64,000 of the plan's 1.2 million Tennessee members who are currently enrolled in its consumer-driven health plan.

Under the pilot program, physicians' offices will be able to use BlueCross billing software to make the estimate, which should take less than 10 seconds. Right now, only 24 providers' in Tennessee and North Georgia are participating, but the health plan hopes to expand the pilot further.

To find out more about the program:
- read this Chattanooga Times/Free Press piece

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